


Ishimondo Mad Scientist AU

by kuscospoison



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Assistant! Chihiro, Franken Mondo, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mad Scientist AU, Mad scientist! Taka, Mild Gore, Multi, Prompt from perfect-ishimondo-boys on tumblr, Salty Chihiro, Suicidal Thoughts, Supernatural Elements, Witch! Sayaka, Witchfinder! Kyouko, not sure whether to be sorry for that or proud of myself, two page's worth of ishimondo bickering, what the heck are titles amirite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-11-25 19:24:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20917295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuscospoison/pseuds/kuscospoison
Summary: Dr. Kiyotaka Ishimaru has been drawn to the idea of Frankenstein since he first read the book, and thus the loneliness of his estate drives him to try the concept out for himself. His test subject (and hopefully eventual friend) is a lot more of a handful than he expected...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's spoopy season y'all and I wanna make sure I finish this by Halloween if I can

Chihiro should have been used to this by now. 

He had gotten so many texts from his boss at ass 'o clock in the morning. He really should have expected it. He had been working as the young doctor's assistant as an intern (which had evolved into a part-time job) during his college years. It was now his senior year and he was really starting to feel tired of Dr. Ishimaru's bullshit. But...a paycheck was a paycheck, and a college student couldn't afford to be picky. 

And the paycheck was impressive. The young doctor had come from a wealthy family (old money with an old mansion and plenty of assets) and seemed to have no qualms with sharing his wealth. Then again, he was completely alone in that dark, old place. Who could blame him for using that to employ human interaction? 

Not that Chihiro didn't enjoy working for the doctor. He was...eccentric. He possessed that obsessive and absorbed intellect that many geniuses were infamous for. And there was no doubt that he was a genius. He had graduated high school early, got his undergraduate degree with impressive speed and had graduated from medical school four years younger than the rest of his fellow students. Chihiro had felt honored to be employed by someone so talented. 

But he was, as mentioned, eccentric. All that time alone, with no living family, had probably gotten to him. Chihiro often found Ishimaru mumbling to himself while conducting research or attempting to find a specific text in his extensive library. He would obsess and lose sleep over research projects that caught his interest, eventually having to give in to receiving food and being shooed to bed by Chihiro. Lately he had been especially absorbed in a project that he refused to elaborate on (much to Chihiro's concern). Whatever it was, it was probably illegal and could risk the loss of the doctor's license to practice medicine. 

And boy was Chihiro right about that. The text he had gotten at 2 am was short and clipped, and yet it filled the undergrad student with dread. --Come to the local cemetery. I'm sending you the location. And bring garbage bags. Don't ask questions.-- Had he...killed someone? No, no way could he do that. Despite his quirks the doctor was a good man. He would never do such a thing. Chihiro decided it was better to try and trust his boss and do as he asked. 

He regretted doing that when he finally found the doctor in the local graveyard. He was at a small and relatively new-looking grave, almost finished with digging up it's occupant. "Mr. Fujisaki! You came just in time!" 

"ARE YOU GRAVE ROBBING? ARE YOU MAKING ME ASSIST YOU IN A FELONY?!?" Chihiro hissed at Ishimaru, still wearing his silk purple pajamas and bunny slippers while holding the garbage bags. Sure he admired the young doctor, but he there was no way in hell he was going to jail for him! This was insane! And wrong on so many levels! 

Ishimaru made a pssh! Sound and waved dismissively. "This cemetery has little to no surveillance. We're not going to get caught if we're careful. And I found an excellent specimen! He's young, freshly dead, and has no living relatives! He's perfect in almost every way, it's just that exhuming him will be a messy affair." He laughed nervously as he began using a chisel and hammer to break open the coffin. 

Chihiro gestured wildly at the grave. "Disrespecting the dead! Grave robbing! Bad!" 

"Chihiro, I don't expect you to agree with what I do, just to assist me with it. Now, Mr. Oowada's death was a violent one, and while I'm sure they tried to put him back together somewhat it's safe to assume that he'll be harder to transport than your average cadaver." Ishimaru made a pleased exclamation when the coffin finally broke open, lifting the lid. 

He really should have given warning before doing so. Chihiro didn't have much of a stomach for gore and death, that was why he had interned with Dr. Ishimaru; most of what he did was research and that was what Chihiro enjoyed. So when that coffin opened and Chihiro saw the mangled body decomposing within, he immediately doubled over and puked onto the grass. 

Ishimaru looked over, looking concerned. "Ah, apologies. I didn't realize that the appearance might upset you." He sighed, and then, as if trying to somehow change the subject (in an admittedly tactless fashion), he added: "I'm sure you've read or at least heard of Frankenstein, correct?" 

Chihiro wiped his mouth, coughing and spluttering. He threw the garbage bags at his employer. "Are you seriously going to try that? That's impossible! Not to mention wrong!" He turned away, unable to look at what the doctor was doing. Was he really so unhinged to try something like that? He had always seemed kind and good-hearted...even if Ishimaru was strange this situation felt so unreal. 

There was a long pause before the doctor spoke. "You know what kind of life I've lived, Fujisaki. Spending most of my time alone in that estate...sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind. I could try to sell it, live somewhere else, but…I can't. My family is buried on the estate grounds, my childhood, my life is all there. I can't abandon that. I know I ask you to do some strange things at times, but...please. Just help me do this. I'm tired of being alone." His voice was shaking, it was obvious that what he was doing was a desperate attempt to have what others had: companionship. Even if Chihiro was his employee, it wasn't like he was around all the time. And Chihiro knew that Ishimaru would never expect him to be a sole source of friendship because it was unfair to the assistant. 

The undergrad student groaned. "If anything happens, you take full responsibility. Tell them you blackmailed me or something. And I'm not going to touch that corpse." Whatever had happened to that young man, it couldn't have been a pleasant death. A car accident or something violent like that. 

"I understand fully. Thank you. And this idea isn't impossible, just...difficult. I've been experimenting a bit and I think I could do it given the right conditions. I'm incredibly grateful for your help and trust. If you could kindly start by redigging the grave while I carry our specimen to the car." He smiled and tossed up a now partially full bag. Chihiro felt his stomach lurch and tried to push aside thoughts about what was in it.

Once the bags were loaded with the cadaver that had once been Mondo Oowada (age 25, according to his tombstone), Chihiro couldn’t help but still feel uncertain about this. Was bringing back the dead really possible? Would it really give Ishimaru what he desired? Would it even work? “He was buried with his mom and brother, it looks like.” He said, hoping this would make the doctor pause as Chihiro helped him crawl out of the freshly exhumed grave. No father to be found, interestingly enough.

Ishimaru hummed. “Yes, it’s a shame that he had no one to remember him when he died.” He looked at the bags. “Like I will be someday.” He mumbled, then quick looked at Chihiro. “I’ll return him to his family, I promise you that. But only after he’s lived a long, eventful life as he should have.”

“And who are you to say that? Maybe he wasn’t meant to live longer.” Chihiro scowled at him. “We’re breaking the laws of nature--”

“The laws of nature are fluid at best, Chihiro. Science has proved that with exceptions. I’m not doing this for fame or money. I only want to see if I can, and then to have what I lost when I was young.” The doctor’s voice was firm as he carefully picked up a bag and began carrying it to the car. Chihiro couldn’t help but sympathize with the young doctor. He had learned quickly enough about the Ishimaru family after working for its only surviving member. His mother had died of sickness, and his father had died in a car accident not too long after. Death had left him alone and abandoned with no consideration for Ishimaru’s age or emotional state.

By dawn what was formerly Mondo Oowada was now in the back of Ishimaru's SUV in three garbage bags. Chihiro had a number of blisters on his aching hands and was covered in dirt. "You're buying me new pajamas." He grumbled as he tossed a shovel into the back of Ishimaru's car. 

The doctor handed him a water bottle. "No problem. Would you like to join me for breakfast once Mr. Oowada is in the basement?" 

The basement? Had Ishimaru gathered enough tools down there, of all places? Chihiro couldn't help but feel more dread at how creepy this all sounded. "Sure. Just answer me this: why dig up a body? Can't you just go make living friends? Have you tried online dating? Social media?" 

His questions were only answered with a sad smile. "Ever since my parents died, I threw myself into my studies. I never made any friends, just obsessed over my work. And I can't help but admit that I've developed a fascination for the macabre over the years. It's one reason why I became a doctor. All of those things have made normal friendship a near impossibility for me." 

As Chihiro began walking back to his own car he looked back at the doctor. "How long have you been thinking about this? You seem...oddly prepared." 

"Longer than I would like to admit. It's something I have been considering for a long time." The doctor rubbed the back of his neck in shame.

Chihiro swallowed hard. "This isn't like...some necrophilia thing is it?" 

Ishimaru looked at him in surprise and shook his head. "Not at all! I have no desire to do such a thing. And I wouldn't expect that kind of relationship from Mr. Oowada if this is a success. I wouldn't be opposed to an eventual romantic relationship, but by then I would hope that he would be less...mushy and musty." He made a face and shook his head. "But no. I have no intention of fornicating with corpses." Well, that was a relief at least. Maybe Chihiro would be able to sleep tonight now that he knew that Ishimaru wouldn't do something so...eugh. 

Driving back to his home, Taka felt a rising sense of what he could consider excitement and maybe even hope. After so many years of being alone, he was finally going to have someone. And Mondo seemed so interesting, from a completely different walk of life. He hoped that the man would be able to remember his past life when he was resurrected. He had been a biker gang leader when he had died, that had to be fascinating. Taka was already imagining the sort of conversations he could have with such a man. 

And Chihiro's question of what he intended to do with Mondo once they had him was certainly a surprise to Taka, but it was an understandable concern. He supposed that anyone looking at this from the outside would be under the impression that Taka was either insane or had a really gross fetish. Both weren't the case. Then again, once Mondo was resurrected and in good enough condition... Taka wouldn't be opposed to a romantic relationship if the other man desired it. He had been quite handsome in life, after all…

Taka shook his head. It would be unwise to consider such things at this point, he concluded, stepping out of his car and opening the trunk. He began carefully carrying the bags down to the basement where his homemade lab had been set up. He was happy he had the resources to procure such instruments. It was only after he finished unloading that he remembered his promise to Chihiro about breakfast and began going upstairs to his kitchen to make his assistant breakfast.

However, he found it an immense challenge to focus on making breakfast and interacting with his assistant. He was practically itching to begin this project, his obsessive tendencies getting the better of him. From this point on it would be a challenge to try and pull himself away from this to avoid the suspicion of the authorities. He had been dreaming of doing this since he had read Frankenstein as a teenager, after all. This was the culmination of years of academic study and research, his magnum opus if he was a painter. 

“I can go if you want. You can just text me if you need anything and I can bring you some takeout for dinner.” Chihiro interjected Taka’s thoughts and brought him out of his head. 

Taka let out a sigh of relief, trying and failing to hide his relief at being able to be free to do his work. “That would be perfect, thank you Chihiro. You’ll be getting a sizable bonus for all of this, I assure you.”

The assistant snorted. “I would certainly hope so.” He mumbled to himself as he went to leave. 

He didn’t even bother to do the dishes before putting on his apron, gloves, thick coat, and surgical mask. As soon as he was ready he almost ran down to the basement to his subject that was currently on a bed of ice. He had made sure the basement was like an icebox before obtaining the body in order to keep him well preserved, and Taka’s breath came out in a misty cloud when he was walking down the basement stairs. 

Mr. Oowada was...not in a good condition, admittedly. It would take a lot of work to put him back together and fix the damage the beginnings of decomposition had done. But Taka was prepared, he was determined to make this work. It might just require a few more...spare parts than he had originally expected.

He began by surveying as many injuries as he could, getting an idea of what he needed to do. He had managed to obtain Mondo’s autopsy report, which he had reviewed a number of times. It had the man’s x-rays, a summary of all the tests conducted and anything that had been damaged or removed. And Taka had essentially used it to create a “shopping list” of a sort. But it wasn’t a bad idea to double check, since the former biker had been dead for long enough that there could have been more damage done. 

He sighed and looked at the picture of the dead man’s driver’s license, then back at the corpse. It made him sick to think how death could take so much from its victims, and only steeled his resolve to follow through on this. Even if he couldn’t bring back his parents as his teenage self had wished, he could do it for this man. “Now, Mr. Oowada, let’s begin.” 

Chihiro had been spending the last month or so just feeding and making sure his boss was keeping up on basic hygiene. He had had to lock the basement door just to get the man to shower (multiple times). On top of that he was heavily proofreading the doctor’s public research, since he was so absorbed in his godforsaken task that he seemed to forget things like spelling and basic grammar. It was Halloween evening that he finally received a text from his boss. --There’s supposed to be a thunderstorm at around midnight. He’s ready, I need you to help me prepare everything. Come by at 11 or so.-- 

“That your boss? What’s he want?” Leon said, peeking over his shoulder. Chihiro had been friends with him since freshman year, and had witnessed the roller coaster that was Leon’s academic career. He had changed his major so many times that Chihiro had lost count. Now he was finally settled on philosophy, of all things. The irony was not lost on Chihiro, who had been dating him for a little over a year. 

Chihiro looked up and turned off his phone screen. “Uh, he needs me to help him with a project tonight.” 

Leon whined. “Are you serious? It’s Halloween, he can’t make you do work on Halloween night!” He pouted. “What about the party? I can’t go to the party dressed as a devil without my angel…” He grabbed Chihiro’s hands and nuzzled him. 

“I know, but it’s really important and it has to be done tonight. I’m sorry. I can do whatever you want until eleven.” Chihiro smiled at him and kissed his head. He wasn’t really sure about how Ishimaru would feel about him showing up in an angel costume, but he didn’t care. If the doctor was asking him to do things so late at night on such short notice then he would have to forego something as trivial as dress code. 

Leon grinned. “Anything? Anything at all?” He bit his lip and wrapped his arms around Chihiro’s waist. 

Chihiro blushed bright red and giggled. “Anything within reason. And anything legal and safe.” 

“Great, then we can still do what I wanna do.” He chuckled and stood up. “We just gotta go back home first.” They had gotten an apartment together for their senior year. It was a big step, but...it felt right to take it. Being with Leon felt right. 

Chihiro once again blushed and smiled. “Okay, then lead the way, demon.” He figured if anything went wrong tonight, then it would be good to spend time with someone he loved. Leon was a doofus at times, and at face-value he seemed shallow. But Chihiro had quickly learned that a lot of it had to do with his upbringing, and with enough time he had been able to see Leon grow into a more confident and stable person. 

Leon kissed his cheek and grinned, leading him out of the restaurant where they had had their dinner date.

Chihiro had managed to make it to the doctor’s estate by eleven, albeit less put together than he had been before. He went directly to the basement, finding that the outside doors were already open with several wires attached to what appeared to be large conductors running out of it. He was careful not to step on the wires as he made his way down the stairs.

“You’re here! Excellent! Just in time, the storm should be starting soon!” Ishimaru said from the table where the subject of his obsession lay. The body was, much to Chihiro’s relief, in much better condition than it was originally. And his boss was practically vibrating with excitement over it. 

Chihiro began helping him get to work, attaching what needed to be attached to the body, turning on what required turning on, and soon he heard the rumbling of thunder in the distance. 

His employer made an excited exclamation at the sound of thunder. “It’s starting!” He laughed nervously. “Just in time, everything is ready.” He stared at the cadaver with eyes that Chihiro could see were full of a wild obsession. “We may want to stand back.” He hesitantly stepped away from the table.

Chihiro followed suit, suddenly thinking that if his boss was like Dr. Frankenstein, then he was like Igor or something. He couldn’t help but frown at that thought, but then again, was this the same story? He knew Ishimaru didn’t have a lust for power and recognition that the original doctor had. He was just a lonely man, trying to find companionship. 

Speaking of the doctor, the man was practically shaking from nerves. “What if the lightning doesn’t strike? What if the storm doesn’t make it to this area?” He adjusted his blood-splattered (Chihiro didn’t want to know) apron nervously, eyes fixated on the body. “Maybe I should--”

He was unable to finish that sentence as his lab was filled with blinding light and the deafening crack of thunder, and Chihiro’s hand immediately shot up to shield his eyes. It was a good thing too, because every light in the room was breaking from the surge created by the electricity. Shortly after the crack of thunder the room was filled with a deafening hum, and then everything went silent and black just as quickly as it had surged. 

The only light source was the open outside door, where rain was pouring through and smoke emanated from the wires there. In one corner there was a fire, and Chihiro quickly used his cell phone flashlight to grab the fire extinguisher and put it out. 

Ishimaru found the backup battery-powered lamp he had placed down in the basement in preparation and turned it on, hesitantly going to examine Mondo. He felt a bolt of fear shoot through him. Was everything a failure? Had he gotten something wrong? Had he just thrown away a month of work and law-breaking for nothing?

And then all those thoughts were driven from his mind when he heard a sharp gasp and saw what was once a cadaver sit bolt upright.

The last thing Mondo Oowada remembered was the blinding light of a trucks headlights, the deafening sound of that trucks car horn, and a flash of pain. His last thoughts were that he hoped his death would be quick. And now…?

What the fuck was going on? He felt disoriented and confused, hands going up to shield his eyes from the light as he groaned. He had to stop that in favor of coughing up some nasty black gunk (which Mondo would find out later was coagulated blood left over from the accident) on the thin white sheet covering his bottom half. Nasty. 

After that he got a good look at his chest and arms. He had a huge, Y-shaped incision running down his entire chest, like dead bodies had after an autopsy. And his arms...weren’t his arms. They were paler and skinnier than they should have been, and the tattoos he had there were gone. His brain, still full of fog, could only comment on this with a loud grunt. He wasn’t in a hospital, there was no IV, so no painkillers. Why didn’t he feel any pain from the stitches and incisions? Where was he? 

“Do you know who you are?” A voice asked him, coming from the source of that bitch of a light. 

Mondo shielded his eyes again and nodded. “Mm...m...Mondo.” Was pretty much all he could get out. He was slowly starting to regain his cognitive capacities, realizing how weird this all was. “Wh...wh....Where the...fffuck am I?” He looked around and realized he was in...a basement? 

He heard a quiet and higher-pitched chuckle coming from a corner, and then the source of the light spoke in an annoyed tone. “Great, he remembers how to swear. I know this is all surprising, but I’m Dr. Kiyotaka Ishimaru. My assistant Chihiro Fujisaki is also here. We’ve spent the last month or so working on a project that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. You were dead, you see. And now...I’ve brought you back.” The voice sounded excited and happy at that last part. 

Brought him back? Wait...Mondo’s memory began to get a little more clearer. “Why?” He glared at the apparent doctor. “Actually, hold that thought, can’t you turn on the fuckin’ lights and get that bitch of a lamp outta my face?” He pulled off the sheet to get off of this...bed of ice? Why wasn’t he cold? Either way, he noticed that he was naked and ended up wrapping the sheet around his waist in a makeshift covering. 

“Ah, wait don’t step in the glass!” Spoken a moment too late as Mondo heard a crunch beneath his feet. He frowned and once again wondered why he wasn’t feeling pain. He heard the doctor sigh heavily. “Don’t move, we’ll clean up the glass and I’ll bring more light. Chihiro, you know where the dustpan and broom is?”  
The feminine-sounding voice gave an affirmative and he heard the crunching of glass as the assistant left the basement. He sat back on the table with an annoyed huff, noting how the ice still wasn’t affecting him. 

“You’ve regained your language capacities in such a short time. Amazing. I had expected it to take longer.” The light said, and there was a crunching sound as it left Mondo in the darkness. He couldn’t help but pout a little in response to the doctor’s statement. 

He surveyed his body, noticing how much of it was now different. His legs weren’t his own, and he felt that his hair was deflated from his usual pompadour and was down around his shoulders. That was annoying, but the more pressing matter was what had happened to him. That doctor brought him back? So he...was he like a Frankenstein’s monster or something? That certainly explained the stitches...He couldn’t help but feel at his neck for screws and instead felt a line of stitches going down the back of his neck. His neck had probably broken during the accident and the doctor had fixed it, he supposed. 

The doctor finally came down with enough lamps to light up the basement, his assistant following behind with the broom. The assistant was wearing an...angel costume? Mondo couldn’t help but wonder what the fuck was up with that...and then noticed the doctor wearing what looked like a mad scientist getup. “Are you guys dressed up for Halloween or some shit?” He frowned at them. “How long have I been dead?” 

The doctor smiled at him warmly. “Ah, I believe it’s been a month and a half. I managed to salvage you when you were still pretty fresh.” Ew, gross. Mondo couldn’t help but make a face at that. 

“Why did you bring me back?” He asked, glaring at the doctor. “Did you ever stop and think that maybe I wanted to be dead?” He folded his arms. 

Ishimaru blinked at him. “What do you mean? Your death was violent, untimely. You were--”

“I wanted to die. It wasn’t an accident. It was a suicide. My brother died in an accident riding with me, he pushed me out of the way and died in my place. I was making things right.” He had been unable to stand the guilt and shame of what he had done to his brother. He was a murderer, he deserved death.

The sweeping up of glass stopped as the assistant looked over at them with wide eyes. The doctor blinked in surprise, which slowly turned into a scowl. “So you were going to throw away his sacrifice like that? Waste the life he had given you?” He balled his fists. 

Mondo got off the table, walking over to him despite the glass. He towered over the doctor (was he somehow taller now? He felt a little taller…). “That wasn’t your decision to make. You shoulda minded your own damn business. Now put me back.” He jabbed a finger at Ishimaru’s chest. 

The doctor only reacted with more anger. “I’m a physician! It is my duty to save lives, not kill them!” 

“Uhh, looks like that ain’t stoppin’ you, Mr. Mad Scientist Lookin’ Fuck.” Mondo gestured at the apron. 

“Oh, excuse me! I’ll have you know this was your fault! News flash, putting a body back together is a messy business! And these aprons aren’t cheap!” The doctor folded his arms. 

“I see, I get it. I’m so sorry for getting my bodily fluids all over your precious apron while I was a dead fuckin’ body!” He growled, balling his fists. “Sounds like I got brought back by a pompous asshole who obviously has the money to buy more fuckin’ aprons based on the size of this basement!” He gestured more broadly to the whole basement.

Ishimaru growled in frustration. “And it seems I brought back an ungrateful, uneducated ingrate!” 

“The fuck’s an ingrate?!?” Mondo shouted. 

“I’ll find you a dictionary and you can look it up, you buffoon!” Ishimaru shouted back

“Who the hell calls people a buffoon anymore?!? What era are you from, the 1920s?” Mondo’s voice only rose more and more in volume.

“I’m from the era where people have better vocabularies rather than stooping to using such foul language!” 

Mondo was getting incredibly frustrated and tired of this bickering. “Put me back where you found me you crazy asshole! I wanna be dead again!” 

“No! I’m not helping you commit suicide a second time! What do you think I am, a murderer?!?” The doctor jabbed a finger at the larger man.

“YOU TOOK ME FROM THAT HOLE AND YOU’RE GONNA PUT ME THE FUCK BACK!” Mondo roared at him. He was a large, loud man. A gang leader. So when he got this loud, people usually backed down out of fear.

However, this was clearly an exception. Even if the man was shorter and smaller than him, he matched his volume rather than back down. “I DO NOT THINK SO, COMMITTING SUICIDE WAS CLEARLY A MISTAKE ON YOUR PART AND I HAVE NO INTENTION OF HELPING YOU MAKE THAT MISTAKE A SECOND TIME! STOP STEPPING ON THE SHARP GLASS!”

“I’LL FUCKEN STEP ON WHAT I WANNA STEP ON AND I WILL FUCKIN’ WALK BACK TO THAT DIRT HOLE IF I GOTTA!” Mondo began stepping on the glass some more to get to the open basement door, as if to prove his word. 

The...girl? Were they a girl? Mondo wasn’t sure, ran over and blocked Mondo. “STOP FIGHTING!” They shouted. “You guys need to calm down! Mr. Oowada, I kindly ask that you not take your own life again, I agree with the doctor. However I don’t think that he’s proving his point in a very mature or kind way.” They glared at Ishimaru. “Also, he’s right about you throwing away your brother’s sacrifice. Why do you think he did what he did? He wanted you to live. You should honor his dying wish rather than ignore it and go against it.” 

Mondo growled and balled his fists, hating how convincing the assistant’s argument was. “Fine. I won’t go back to the cemetery. But I’m still pissed. And I don’t like you!” He pointed at Ishimaru. “Fuckin’ nerd.” 

The doctor looked offended and scandalized. “I am not a nerd! I will have you know I am a renowned researcher with multiple awards--”

“You’re a nerd with a capital fuckin’ N!” Mondo pointed at him. 

Ishimaru made a face as if he had just sucked on a lemon. “This nerd brought you back from the dead and fixed your body back up in the process! You’re welcome!” 

Mondo began shouting again. “Fuck you! I’m not saying thank you to some pompous nerd who made me look like a fuckin’ voodoo doll or some shit! Look at me! These aren’t my arms! These aren’t my legs! This is really fuckin’ weird! I can’t feel any pain, or cold. There’s a reason Frankenstein got killed in the movie, asshat. He was a monster, he went against the laws of nature or whatever!”

Ishimaru held the bridge of his nose. “It’s Frankenstein’s monster, not Frankenstein. You didn’t even read the book. And I doubt someone with only a high-school level of science would fully understand the laws of nature.” 

Chihiro glared at them both. “What did I say about fighting? Ishimaru, go upstairs to your room!” 

“I am your employer, I am not a child--” 

“YOUR ROOM!” Chihiro glared at him and after a staredown the doctor went up the stairs with only a grumble of protest. The assistant looked at Mondo. “I’m almost finished cleaning up the glass. Gimme a few more minutes and I can get the glass out of your feet, okay?” 

“It doesn’t hurt--” 

“Did I stutter?” The assistant, despite their petite appearance, glared at the larger man with narrowed eyes and Mondo went back to the table and sat on it with only a grumble of protest. 

After a few minutes of sweeping, the assistant finally finished and went to Mondo with tweezers, a wet cloth, and a tray. “Thank you. I know this is all really confusing and scary, but Dr. Ishimaru does mean well. He’s a good man.” 

“Then why’d he bring back a dead person? He robbed my grave and probably got my new body parts from other dead people. That’s pretty fucked up.” He scowled at the assistant. “Also, just to clarify, are you a dude or a chick?” 

Chihiro sighed. “I’m a boy. But I like to wear women’s clothing a lot of times. It’s...easier for me. Looking the way I look. And...it’s complicated. The doctor lost both of his parents when he was a kid. He’s been alone in this big, old creaky mansion for a long time. He was lonely. So...he tried to make a friend. But I guess that even if this whole thing was a success, it was a failure too.” He began picking the glass out of one of Mondo’s feet. 

Mondo knew what it was like to be alone, to lose the people he cared about. “That sucks. I feel kinda bad now. You say he’s a nice guy?” 

“Mhm.” The assistant replied with a nod. “He may be a bit uptight, but his heart’s in the right place. I think you just caught him off guard. He was so excited about this night, that when you got angry he probably panicked. I’m sure he wouldn’t force you to stay here, but maybe you could give him a second chance?” He finished on one foot and began working on the other, wiping away the dark, sludgy blood that was there. Once again, Mondo was grossed out by his newly resurrected body. 

Mondo looked down and picked at his sheet. “I guess. If he isn’t a dick this time.” 

Chihiro snorted. “That’s the spirit. I can get you a bathrobe or something to cover up and you can go talk to him. You should probably eat something too…” He frowned, uncertain. “I’ll go ask the doctor.” He went up the stairs, leaving the door to the inside of the house open for Mondo. 

After a moment of internally debating with himself, he got off the table and went up the stairs with his sheet still wrapped around his bottom half. He came out into the kitchen, which was impressively large. When he was alive Mondo had enjoyed cooking, so maybe it would be nice to rekindle that hobby here…

He continued to wander, leaving the kitchen and going out into the foyer of the house. This was also large and impressive, with antique seating and expensive looking paintings hung on the walls. He hummed and looked around with wide, curious eyes as he went up the stairs, deciding to skip the rest of the first floor for now. 

It was just his luck that the first room he went into would be the doctor’s bedroom. It was obviously the master bedroom and was considerably large. Probably bigger than Mondo’s apartment that he had when he was alive. 

But that wasn’t what caught his eye. What actually captured his focus was the doctor in only his boxers, changing out of his clothes. He shrieked at an octave much higher than he should have been able to make and seemed to curl in on himself. “GET OUT!” 

Mondo yelped and covered his eyes. “Sorry! I was just exploring!” 

“Explore somewhere else I’m half naked you pervert!” Ishimaru shrieked and grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around himself. 

Mondo uncovered his eyes and scowled. “Well so am I, we’re both dudes. What’s the problem?” He frowned. 

“I’m used to seeing you naked. I’ve been seeing you in your birthday suit for the past month.” Okay, that was a bit unsettling. “And our genders are irrelevant, I still deserve my privacy. So shoo.” He made a shooing motion with one hand to emphasize the last part.

Mondo rolled his eyes. “Fine, I was gonna apologize for yellin’ at you earlier but I guess I’ll leave.” He turned to go. 

The young doctor interjected. “Wait. I...I’m sorry too. For being harsh with you. Coming back from death had to be a...confusing and frightening experience. I’ve never had any real friends before, and I never had to work on my bedside manner due to going right into research, so...my social skills are lacking.” Ishimaru looked down. “I’m sure Chihiro told you my motive for this project.”

“Yeah. ‘S’kinda sweet.” Mondo smiled a bit. “This wasn’t like a build-a-boyfriend thing was it?” He quirked a brow.

Ishimaru blushed bright red and his jaw dropped. “Wh--I--NO! Why would you think I would do something so unprofessional and vulgar and perverted as that? You think I’m some necrophiliac or something? That’s disgusting and I’m insulted you would even consider suggesting such a--” 

“Okay! I’m sorry for saying something. And I wasn’t even thinking you were into fuckin’ dead people. I was just asking.” He shrugged. “I’m bi, so I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to the idea, but not now obviously cuz we don’t really know each other…” When he had been younger, Mondo had been violently against the idea of being into men. But as he had gotten older he had grown out of some of those insecurities. And anyway, he was back from the dead so who cared what he did now?

“And you’re assuming that I’m attracted to men?” Ishimaru frowned at him, folding his arms.

Mondo shrugged. “I dunno dude. The thought just crossed my mind and I don’t really got a filter. Sorry for askin’. But either way, I’m not opposed to being your friend or whatever. Just help me get a fake ID and shit so I can be at least somewhat independent and I won’t mind.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “New start sounds kinda nice, if I’m honest. Being a big tough biker guy was getting to be a lot of pressure.” 

Ishimaru blinked up at him, red eyes wide. “Oh. Alright then. Splendid.” He smiled. 

Mondo heard a small “ahem” and turned around, seeing Chihiro behind him. “Oh, hey lil dude. I found Dr. Nerd.” He smirked a bit as he heard a small protesting noise from Ishimaru. 

Chihiro snorted. “So you did. Is there anything you need me to do, doctor?” 

Ishimaru thought for a moment. “No. I think we’ll be alright. The guest bedroom is aired out and ready for him and everything else can be done tomorrow.” He smiled wide. “Thank you so much for helping with this! Did you hear that Mr. Oowada says he’s okay with being my friend?” Mondo couldn’t help but wonder if this was the first time anyone had ever called him Mr. Oowada as the doctor let out an incredibly dorky laugh. 

Chihiro chuckled and nodded. “I did. I’m glad everything worked out with you two. Have a good night!” 

“You as well, Chihiro!” Ishimaru answered, still smiling wide. The guy was an uptight asshole, that much was for sure. But he was energetic and intelligent, which was quickly becoming endearing. 

As Chihiro left the doctor let out a loud yawn and let the blanket drop, seeming to forget his former modesty as he went to put on his pajamas (which, Mondo discovered, were a matching red button-up shirt and pants). “Golly I’m exhausted. I spent the whole day getting everything ready.” He crawled into bed. 

“Did you just say golly?” Jesus Christ, this guy was an eighty-year old man in a twenty-something-year old man’s body. 

“Hmm?” The doctor sleepily replied, eyes already half closed. 

Mondo scowled. “Dude, where do I sleep?” He was okay with sleeping in his birthday suit (although he wasn’t really tired at this point) but he wanted to know where his personal space was. 

Ishimaru gave another sleepy hum. “It’s the room next to mine. To the right. Can you turn off the light on your way out?” He gave another loud yawn. 

Mondo sighed and began walking out. “Yeah yeah, okay.” He turned off the light. “G’night, nerd.” He smiled a bit and looked back, seeing that the doctor was already snoring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to expand things a bit, hopefully it won't get too complicated and I can come up with some more shit for this. In the meantime, I definitely won't have this finished by Halloween, but here's this to hold y'all over.

Mondo quickly discovered that no matter how much he relaxed, sleep wasn’t happening for him. Which was fine. It meant he could get more exploring done and get a feel for this big old estate. He could try to create some sense of familiarity in all of this foreign territory. 

As he crawled out of bed and wrapped a blanket around himself, he couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else had experienced anything like this before. Sure, people had near death experiences, but...to be dead for a month and a half and come back full of stitches and staples? Maybe he would have to read the actual book for Frankenstein…

After enough wandering Mondo eventually found the library and, sure enough, an old, lovingly used and bookmarked copy of Frankenstein. Maybe it would help him cope with all of this...change. Or at least give some insight as to why he felt weird. The lack of pain, hunger, tiredness, were definitely not normal. And he would have gladly read the book from cover to cover. There was just one problem.

Mondo was bored. The beginning part of the story seemed to drag on forever and after about ten minutes of reading Mondo gave up on the endeavor. Maybe he’d just get the doctor to give him a summarized version of the story. Ishimaru probably wouldn’t mind, hell the guy seemed to get a sick satisfaction out of lecturing people. He’d probably enjoy talking about the book that inspired him to resurrect Mondo. Speaking of which, the former biker was still unsure how to feel about that. 

They had been right about his throwing away Daiya’s sacrifice (which he now felt like kicking himself over now that he wasn’t in a depressive and grieving haze of drugs and alcohol), but would this really right that? Was he even considered alive? Mondo bit his lip and felt for his pulse, at first feeling nothing and panicking. Then, after a moment he felt a beat. Another breath, another beat. He wasn’t a doctor, but he sure as hell knew that anyone with a pulse like this wouldn’t be walking and talking. But then again, it was better than having no pulse at all (because that would have had Mondo panicking even more; this just caused...confusion). He felt like he was Alice in Wonderland, everything just kept getting curiouser and fucking curiouser. 

He decided to try and find a bathroom to check his temperature, wanting to satisfy some of his curiosities regarding the changes to his body. He remembered there being a bathroom connected to his room and went back to investigate. In the back of his mind he vaguely noted that he still didn’t feel tired at all. He snorted at the thought that maybe he had gotten enough sleep while being dead for a month and a half, and so his body wouldn’t need it for a while. He eventually found a thermometer in the medicine cabinet and used it, finding his body temperature to be around fifty degrees fahrenheit. Pretty sure that wasn’t normal, since any living person was running in the upper nineties. It was hard to panic at this point, though. He was starting to accept that because of being resurrected, he was...different. 

This was cemented when he shut the medicine cabinet door, finally getting a good look at his reflection. His hair was tangled and longer than when he had died, his skin a few shades paler. And his eyes...had the doctor replaced those too? Instead of the pale lavender he was used to seeing he instead had a brown eye and a blue one. He couldn’t help but lean forward a bit, touching his own cheek. His nails were longer than he usually preferred as well, which was a bit gross. All of these physical changes, this new environment...everything felt so surreal. If he hadn’t remembered his own death he might have thought this was all a dream. 

There wasn’t much of a reason to worry about his physical condition since it just kept coming up as completely different from any living person’s, so he gave up on his investigation in favor of further exploring this house (however he would definitely be revisiting the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth because he was more than certain that he did not smell like a field of flowers right now). It was going to be his home too now, he supposed. He left his room and began exploring the second floor. 

There was Ishimaru’s room, obviously. He couldn’t help but peek in on the now obnoxiously snoring doctor. The guy was a huge nerd, but with that came a kind of innocence and pure enthusiasm that Mondo wanted to protect. Which was annoying, because the poindexter was an asshole to him earlier, but maybe it was just a weird instinct he was developing. It was better to just accept all of these new developments as they happened rather than question them, Mondo figured. 

He went across the hall to the next bedroom and found that Ishimaru wasn’t living in the master bedroom, since this one was clearly it. It looked like it hadn’t been disturbed in over a decade at the very least, what with the fine layer of dust covering everything. Above the dark fireplace mantle there was a huge portrait of what Mondo assumed was a young Ishimaru with his parents. Mondo didn’t take a step inside, instead closing the door and turning his exploration elsewhere. Even to him the room felt both equal parts disturbing and creepy. And bringing it up to the doctor when the man woke up would probably be unwise, so he tried his best to forget what he’d seen. 

There were a few more empty guest bedrooms, along with the expansive library Mondo had discovered before. One room was Ishimaru’s office, which Mondo couldn’t resist entering and looking around. There were framed degrees and certificates on the walls, all from big and prestigious institutions. There were no pictures of Ishimaru with friends or family. The only photo the doctor had was of him and his assistant at what looked like some kind of nerd convention. Lame, but also kind of cute. Without a shred of hesitation he started going through the doctor’s desk, unfortunately finding nothing incriminating or exciting. The only information he had gathered was that a) Ishimaru was a clean freak who seemed to really enjoy paperwork, b) he was only twenty-eight years old, meaning he was quite young to have gotten all of these achievements, and c) the guy knew way more than he did. 

With a disappointed sigh Mondo left the office, walking out into the hall where he found a yawning and half-asleep doctor going towards the stairs. He couldn’t help but feel curious and watched the doctor walk down, an ingenious plan forming in his mind. He waited until the doctor was far enough away and snuck downstairs, feeling a little excited at the prank he wanted to do. 

He noticed a light on in the kitchen and took his opportunity, putting out his arms and groaning like Frankenstein’s monster as he entered the kitchen. This was going to be fucking hilarious.

And it was. Ishimaru fell out of the chair he had been sitting in as he screamed in soprano. “YOU CHARLATAN! IT IS FOUR AM DON’T DO THAT!” He screeched, standing up and smacking at Mondo’s arm. 

Mondo had to hold his knees to keep himself from falling over as he laughed his ass off. “Oh my god...your fuckin’ face...that was amazing...and you called me...you called me a motherfuckin’ charlatan…” He finally went and sat at the table across from where Ishimaru had been sitting. 

Ishimaru followed him and sat at his own seat, clutching his chest. “What are you even doing awake? I myself only came down here because I woke up feeling hungry. This project made me forget about things like food and hygiene and I’ve finally regained my appetite.” He scowled and gestured to the sandwich he had next to his book. 

Mondo shrugged. “Dunno. Not tired. Maybe my dirt nap was enough to hold me over for a while.” He grinned. 

“That’s not funny.” The doctor grumbled through a mouthful of sandwich. 

“Kinda is. For somebody who’s been working with a dead body for the past month you need to work on your sense of humor.” Or lack thereof, it appeared. It seemed that in all of his years of education no one had ever bothered to teach the doctor what fun was. What a shame. Maybe Mondo would get to teach him. 

Ishimaru shook his head. “This was a culmination of what I’ve been dreaming of since I was a child. I’ve spent half my life tirelessly working towards this goal. Forgive me if I’m not seeing the humor in all of this.” 

Mondo pouted. “Aw come on, you don’t think it’s neat that you brought me back at midnight on Halloween? That’s like, shit straight from a horror movie.”

“Is it really necessary for you to use such obscenities?”

“Didya even hand out candy to trick-or-treaters? You got the perfect costume! I would’ve even helped! We would’ve had the perfect costume duo, and we’re not even wearing costumes!” He grinned. 

Ishimaru sighed and closed his book. “Everyone thinks this place is haunted, no one comes here for Halloween.”

“Dude, that sounds like even more of a reason to go to a big creepy house on Halloween. You’d figure that the people would be motivated to come out this far.” 

“Not with children!” 

Mondo shrugged. “Eh, kids gotta grow up and see scary shit sometime.” 

Ishimaru shook his head. “You would have been an awful parent.” 

“It’s a good thing I prolly can’t have kids then, bein’ a fucked up zombie person.” Mondo smirked. 

Ishimaru tilted his head. “What do you mean, fucked up zombie person?” He stood and went to Mondo. “You think something is wrong?” He grabbed his arm and tugged, finding that Mondo wasn’t budging an inch. Mondo barely even felt the pull, and the doctor was a grown man who clearly wasn’t a weakling. Interesting. “Come on, I should check your vitals and everything. All of my tools are in the basement.” He grunted and tried tugging harder, and finally Mondo gave in and stood, allowing himself to be led downstairs. 

He groaned. “Why do we gotta do this? I was checking that shit myself earlier, all it tells me is that I’m barely alive and that everything about me is fuckin’ weird.”

Ishimaru scowled at him, pausing at the basement stairs. “And that wasn’t cause for concern?” 

Mondo thought a moment, then only shrugged in response. Apparently that was the wrong answer, because that only earned him an exasperated sigh as he was led down the basement stairs. He couldn’t help but feel a little better that he could tell it was a bit chilly in here, but then when he looked at the doctor when the lamps were turned on he could see the man’s breath coming out in a fog. 

Ishimaru grabbed a few things and went to Mondo, starting with using a stethoscope on him. “Does it feel cold in here to you?” 

Mondo shrugged. “A lil.” He had no idea what that meant and Ishimaru’s hum in response didn’t really tell him much at all. The young doctor had him breathe while having the stethoscope in certain parts of his chest, then checked his pulse. After each test his frown somehow got deeper and deeper. 

And finally, when he was finished, Ishimaru concluded, “You should be dead. At the very least comatose” Wow, all those tests and Ishimaru came to that conclusion.

“No shit Sherlock. I’m like, half-dead or somethin’.” Mondo scowled. “Can we go back upstairs? And maybe find me some clothes? I’m tired of walkin’ around in just a blanket.” 

Ishimaru shook his head. “The whole point of this was to bring you back from death, not halfway. This was a failure, something’s wrong. Unless…” He seemed to think for a minute. 

“Unless what?” Mondo frowned back at him. 

“It’s like in the book. Frankenstein’s monster had higher endurance, strength. He needed less food and water than a normal person, and could stand extreme temperatures.” Ishimaru took a needle and began jabbing it into Mondo’s fingertips. “That would also explain your extremely high pain tolerance.” He shook his head. “I didn’t even consider that if you awoke and existed as a normal person your stitches would have been extremely painful. Lucky me.” The man was deep in thought, he seemed to be talking to himself more than Mondo.

Mondo frowned. “I think I’m the luckier one in that situation. And you’re just telling me what I already figured out. So what? I’m like, a super person now? I don’t really see the importance of that.” 

Ishimaru smiled at him. “It’s just interesting. It could be the result of your lack of functioning nerves, so we’ll have to be careful, alright? Just because you can’t feel pain or cold, doesn’t mean those things won’t be harmful to you. We should get you back upstairs, it’s quite cold down here.” He looked behind him. “Chihiro closed the basement doors before leaving, I should have adjusted the temperature down here since we don’t need the AC blasting anymore.” He chuckled. “My electric bill is going to be atrocious.” 

Mondo stood up and shrugged. “I’m not sorry. And...did you make me taller? Or is it just that I have different legs now?” He frowned.

Ishimaru sighed. “Ah, yes. Sorry for that. You had a lot of broken bones from the accident and dead bones don’t really heal so I had to replace them. You also have a few vertebrae that aren’t originally yours but I was able to be a bit more subtle with that.” He smiled a bit. “Is it bad? I know it’s probably disappointing that you don’t have the muscle mass you had before…” He seemed especially regretful about that. Not being attracted to men my ass, Mondo thought with a smirk. Even so, it was better to remain friends for now. They barely knew each other and Mondo still wasn’t sure about his physical condition. Would he even be able to satisfy the doctor if a romantic relationship developed? Not that that would happen...and besides, he still wasn’t entirely sure if it was safe to trust the doctor.

He banished those thoughts for later and shrugged. “Nah, I don’t mind. Lil pissed off that I don’t have some of my tattoos anymore, but whatever. It’s worth it if it means I get to be a big cool scary monster. Do you got a thing to measure me and see how much taller I am? I was 6’2” before…” He hummed in thought. “But I am worried about the stitches. Will they heal? Will I ever get to have them removed?” He frowned. He didn’t want to be a gross human pin cushion forever, thanks. 

Ishimaru shrugged. “Theoretically? Yes. However this is all yielding some...unexpected results so we’ll have to take things as they come. How are your feet?” 

Mondo blinked and looked down. He had totally forgotten about his injuries from the broken glass. Had he tracked nasty brown sludge all over the doctor’s house? Shit, that meant he’d know he snooped around--

The wounds weren’t bleeding, in fact they didn’t need stitches. They just looked like some mild scratches now. “Huh. Neat.” He could only muse.

He looked up and the doctor was furiously typing on the laptop that he had down here. Of course he would nerd out about all of this and need to write everything down. “Fascinating...Perhaps we’ll be able to remove the stitches faster than anticipated.” He picked up the laptop and began absentmindedly walking up the basement stairs. Mondo figured that was his tactless way of saying they were done down here and followed the doctor. 

Ishimaru led him back to the kitchen and sat down, typing out his last thought. “I can check your stitches now if you’d like. I probably won’t be able to remove the ones on your torso and chest tonight, but I might be able to remove the ones on your arms and legs?” 

“That would be cool.” Mondo nodded, sitting across from him. 

“Let me grab some tools and I’ll be back.” He got up and left the kitchen, leaving Mondo unsupervised. Not that he needed supervision. He was just starting to feel a little hungry. He got up and went to the fridge, finding it mostly empty. What the hell had the doctor made his sandwich with? The former biker shut the fridge with a sigh and began going through the cabinets, eventually finding a box of cereal to munch on. It was stale, but it was better than nothing. 

The doctor returned with his tools, along with a lamp. He positioned the lamp over Mondo and wrestled the cereal away from him. “No eating during medical procedures.” He growled and Mondo only grumbled in protest. Ishimaru began checking the stitches on Mondo’s left shoulder with a hum. “These are almost healed. Probably won’t even need to bandage them. Incredible…” He mumbled the last part as he began to carefully remove the stitches. Mondo didn’t really feel any pain, but having Ishimaru close to him was nice. He smelled like...soap? No, it was more like just...clean. It was nice.

“So...You’ve lived here your whole life?” Mondo attempted to break the awkward silence. 

“Yes. This estate’s been in my family for around two hundred years. Looks like you’re going to have some nasty scarring, I’m afraid.” 

Mondo snorted. “I can live with that. I’ve had a lot of scars in my life, doc.” He smiled a bit.

Ishimaru blushed a bit and smiled. “I’m sure you have, considering your past. And you can call me Taka.” 

Mondo smirked. “Oh yeah? What’s that supposed to mean?” It felt weirdly intimate to be allowed to call the doctor by his first name, but at the same time it was welcome. 

“I did some research on your background before digging you up. You were a biker gang leader, right? You probably got into a lot of fights.” 

“You thought resurrecting a guy like that was a good idea? Especially since you’re in a big fancy house? And you’re a nerd?” He smiled a bit.

“I am not a nerd.” Taka scowled at him. “And...it was an adventure. A risk I was willing to take.”

“Yeah, you just saw my picture and thought I looked good.” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

“That is not it at all!” Taka blushed bright red, clearly flustered. He shook his head. “Don’t say such things, it’s distracting. I could hurt you if I’m not careful.” 

Mondo chuckled. “Mmhmm.” He was quickly finding out how fun it was to fluster the doctor. But then an unsettling thought came to his mind. “How much did you have to replace? With my organs and shit?” He swallowed hard. 

Taka paused. “A lot. What the accident didn’t damage, the beginnings of decomposition did. I was afraid you would have brain damage when I brought you back. We’ll still need to run tests for other things, but I’m glad you can remember who you were and you can talk.” He smiled sadly. “I tried my best to fix you up, but the brain was one thing I really didn’t want to mess with.”

“Thanks for that.” Mondo nodded. 

“I regret having to replace your eyes, though. They were a very lovely color when you were alive, but...eyes don’t last long when a cadaver is buried.” Taka mumbled, and Mondo couldn’t help but shiver in horror at the thought of his body rotting. Better to not think about that. 

“Uh...thanks I guess?” Mondo swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, being reminded of the stitches on the back of his neck. “God, this is all so weird and creepy. It freaks me out to think I was dead just a few hours ago…” 

Taka nodded. “That’s certainly understandable. But you should still hold still so I don’t accidentally cut you.” He frowned up at him. 

Taka woke up the next day after sleeping more than he had in the past month, feeling a bit of surprise when he realized how late he had slept in. Then again, he had had a late night last night. The biker...had it really been a success? Or had he just dreamed it? It wouldn’t have been the first time he had hallucinated due to a lack of sleep from hyperfixation. And while the results were somewhat unexpected, the basic objective had been achieved. Mondo was walking and talking, he was alive. Taka had brought a man back from the dead. 

He rolled out of bed and began to get ready for the day, in a bit of a rush. He was both excited to confirm that last night wasn’t a hallucination and he was worried about leaving Mondo to his own devices. Especially if the man was going to pull such pranks as he did last night! That was in no way funny! He couldn’t help but scowl at the mirror while brushing his teeth as he remembered. 

When he finally went downstairs he was surprised to find Mondo in the kitchen, making breakfast. “Ah, good morning?” 

Mondo looked over at him, smiling a bit. He seemed to have cleaned himself up a bit, hair still damp from what was most likely a shower. And were those…”Are you wearing my sweatpants?” They looked a bit small on the larger man... “I could have Chihiro pick you up some clothes.” He sat at the table, watching the former biker.

“I’m gonna prolly take you up on that offer, and also you should ask the lil guy to buy some groceries. This was your last egg. And as far as I know that was the last thing you had in both your freezer and fridge.” He set down a plate of scrambled eggs in from of Taka. 

“Right...Chihiro has been getting me takeout lately, and getting me to stop and eat that was a chore in itself…” Taka sighed and grabbed the fork, taking a bite and humming. Not bad. Who knew someone with such a questionable past could cook? “What about you? Aren’t you hungry?” 

Mondo shrugged and sat next to him. “Meh, I’m okay.” Taka couldn’t help but feel a little concerned. If Mondo’s resurrection had the same symptoms as Frankenstein’s monster, then he was probably fine. If not...he’d have to keep an eye on the larger man. It would be heartbreaking if something happened to Mondo (not that Taka would admit those emotions out loud).

After another large bite of egg Taka let out a sigh. “Would you be willing to help me with chores today? I don’t really have any cleaning staff so I’m behind on a lot of things…” He rubbed the back of his neck and blushed a bit, feeling embarrassed. “You’ll quickly learn I have a tendency to get a bit ah, absorbed in projects. I was especially invested in the one involving you…” He felt his blush deepen as he admitted it. It was only because of the scientific importance of the project, of Taka chasing that fantasy of cheating death. It wasn’t that he had fallen down a rabbit hole of learning who Mondo had been when he was alive…

Mondo nodded. “Yeah, I kinda figured that out pretty quickly. And I don’t mind helping with chores. I was actually doin’ some of your dishes earlier cuz I got so damn bored…” He snorted. “I woke up kinda early and ran outta shit to do after a while so I started cleaning and stuff. I was gonna try to like, read or watch TV but you have no TV --I dunno what the fuck is up with that but whatever-- and all of your books are old and a total snoozefest.” He shrugged. 

Taka chuckled a bit. “I’ve never had much of an interest in television, but...I’m grateful that you helped me without being asked to. That’s very considerate of you.” It was surprising, but not unwelcome of course. 

He looked up to discover that the former biker was...was he blushing? Was that even possible, for the newly resurrected to blush? Either way, Mondo seemed to be bashful all of a sudden as he grumbled about it being whatever. Taka couldn’t help but smile at him and a small part of him couldn’t help but think that Mondo’s secret soft side was cute. At first he had been afraid the other man was overly aggressive and bull-headed (he was those things too, but it was for that reason that he worried about Mondo being that way). But it seemed that all of that was more of a front than anything. An armor of hypermasculinity, it seemed more and more like. Maybe this new start would help the former biker let go of all that…

After being a witchfinder for about a decade now, Kyoko Kirigiri had quickly learned to trust seers and witches. 

It sounds counterintuitive, right? She was supposed to hunt those kinds of people. But the nature of her career was drastically different from what it had been a century ago. Rather than hunt non-humans, it was easier and more productive to heavily regulate them. Negotiating werewolf pack territories, enforcing vampire’s hunting ground borders, and regulating what witches could and couldn’t make spell and potion-wise were just a few of her duties as a witchfinder. But the most exciting part of her job was investigating and containing the weird stuff, and it was always a refreshing break in the surprisingly tedious nature of her job. 

So when her assistant Sayaka Maizono, a girl who had been born into a long line of witches, set down a small pile of papers in front of her, Kyoko paid attention. And what she was looking at was… a report of the city’s electricity and power. “What am I looking at, Maizono?” 

“It’s a hunch I had. I just felt like I needed to look at if there were any weird power surges in the past few days. And I found something weird.” She flipped through the papers and pointed at a circled point on a map. “See here? This old estate had a severe power surge, one that probably was the result of that thunderstorm. The strength of it, even if they had the right precautionary equipment, should have resulted in a fire, right?” Sayaka nodded, looking a little excited. Kyoko didn’t blame her, things had been kind of slow lately, despite the nature of this time of year.

Kyoko looked through the papers. “And there’s no reports of any fires in that area that night…”

“Exactly! You think something happened?” Sayaka smiled. “Maybe some underground witch coven or something?”

Kyoko looked at the records for who was living at that house. “No...it doesn’t really seem to show any of those kinds of signs. This could be something pretty different than what we’re used to.” She sighed. “Any other hunches or premonitions that could help?” This definitely warranted an investigation and a few questions for the Ishimaru estate, but the more prepared Kyoko was, the better. Sayaka’s premonitions were usually pretty spot-on, so Kyoko could trust her when she said she had information.

Sayaka bit her lip. “Well...just one small thing. But it’s weird, probably not even connected. Just a thing I saw on the news like a month ago that gave me a really weird feeling. But it could have just been the nature of it, it was a guy who died in a motorcycle accident. His death sounded pretty nasty.” 

Kyoko nodded. “You have a name?” 

“Yes, actually I dug up some information on him too. I didn’t bring it up right away cuz I wasn’t really sure if it was useful…” She went to her small desk and grabbed another pile of papers, bringing them to Kyoko. 

Kyoko began flipping through the papers. Mondo Oowada, huh? Even if it could be totally unrelated to this, it didn’t hurt to have as much knowledge as possible before going in. And even if Sayaka dismissed her own premonition, there was a good chance she was onto something. Kyoko wasn’t really sure what it was, but she would hopefully find out soon.

And the more she investigated, the more she suspected Mondo Oowada was related to all of this somehow, despite the fact that he should have been dead for over a month and a half now. So instead of going to the Ishimaru estate right away, she decided to do a little more investigating on the side. When Kyoko went to his grave, it appeared to be more disturbed that what it should have been. Like it had been dug up and not re-buried quite right. 

Being the curious witchfinder she was, this resulted in her sneaking back to the grave and exhuming it the night afterwards. Thank god she wore leather gloves all the time, because all that digging would have given her nasty blisters otherwise. But luckily the payoff was worth it. 

The seal on the coffin was already broken, which could have been the elements getting at it. But the elements couldn’t have made a dead body completely disappear. Which meant the former biker’s dead body was probably somewhere else. Kyoko had a feeling it was at a certain doctor’s estate. And boy was the picture starting to come together. At this point her questioning would be more of a confirmation of what she was beginning to piece together rather than an investigative exercise. 

As always, she prepared for the confrontation with her usual gun (along with a case of both iron and silver bullets just in case) and any information that she would need to give to the doctor. She didn’t want to harm anyone in this, if anything she hoped she could help them, and the doctor probably barely had any idea what he was getting into and could risk breaking a lot of regulations and laws (besides the ones relating to graverobbing and what not). Hopefully the doctor would be open to the information and rules Kyoko was going to give him. But as always, she came prepared with her gun. Because, literally, she was once bitten twice shy (an incident with a vampire back when she had been new to the profession was the result of that nasty scar). 

Taka was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to incorporate Mondo into his routine. Once the larger man had gotten his own clothing and set himself up in what was now his room, they were able to work together pretty well. Despite being a former biker gang leader, he was surprisingly good when it came to cooking, cleaning and other household chores. And no matter how much Taka reminded him he wasn’t obligated to do such things, he was weirdly stubborn about it. 

“I wanna pull my own weight in this, goddammit!” He had growled as he hovered protectively over the dinner he had been making that Taka was offering to help with. 

Taka tried to sidestep, push through, anything to try to help the larger man prepare the meal. “You shouldn’t feel obligated to do so! I did not resurrect you to be a glorified maid!” 

The biker stubbornly pouted and continued to guard the food. “Yeah well too fuckin’ bad, you can help me do other shit, dinner is my job and you can keep your lil mitts off it!” 

“Why won’t you let me contribute?” Taka yelled, feeling frustrated. 

“CUZ YOU SUCK AT COOKING ALRIGHT? I WAS TRYNA BE NICE ABOUT IT BUT GOD YOU SHOULDN’T BE LET WITHIN FIFTEEN FEET OF A KITCHEN AND I DUNNO HOW ELSE TO BREAK IT TO YOU OKAY?” Taka couldn’t help but feel angry at how Mondo was yelling back at him so loudly, but after being around him for a week or so he had learned that the tone the larger man was using meant that he was nervous rather than angry. Not that that would stop the doctor from shouting back at him.

“I’M NOT THAT BAD I AM A GROWN MAN I’VE COOKED FOR MYSELF BEFORE!”

“WELL NEVER DO IT AGAIN CUZ YOU PROBABLY FUCKEN ACCIDENTALLY POISONED YOURSELF OR SOME SHIT NOW LET ME FEED YOU YOU LIL SHIT!” 

Taka would have answered with a loud and opinionated reply had the doorbell not suddenly rang. He couldn’t help but stare at Mondo with wide and nervous eyes, since he had no clue who it could have been. Taka knew it wasn’t Chihiro, the intern had been given the night off. And Taka didn’t really have any friends, colleagues, or family to visit him. 

Mondo froze and met his nervous look with an equally nervous look. “Maybe it’s a salesman or somethin’.”

“Do those even exist anymore?” Taka whispered, for some reason feeling the need to be quiet.

“I ‘unno.” Mondo shrugged. “Should prolly go check who it is though, just in case.” He put the food on low and began walking to the door. 

Taka ran to stop him. “Wh--hold on a moment! You can’t answer the door! You’re technically dead!” 

“Exactly, nobody’s gonna think I’m me cuz I’m dead, so it’s whatever. I’ll just tell ‘em I’m like your cook or some shit.” Mondo shrugged and continued going to the door, opening it despite the protesting hisses the doctor was making. Taka felt his blood run cold in terror. 

The woman at the door seemed weirdly calm, and yet when her eyes met Mondo they widened a bit. Oh god, she knows, she knows and I’m going to prison and Mondo will--Taka’s train of thought froze. What would happen to him? Frick, this was bad. “Mondo Oowada?” She asked and Taka gave an involuntary squeak in terror. 

“Y--wh--no. Nope. I’m uh, I’m, um, Dr. Ishimaru’s husband.” Mondo answered. 

WHAT?!? Taka looked between them and laughed nervously. “Ahaha, no, he’s kidding, ma’am. This is my cook, I just hired him.” He leaned forward and whispered to the woman. “Forgive him, he’s a bit slow.” Taka stepped in front of Mondo, who pinched his side lightly and Taka couldn’t help but yelp a bit at that and shoot the other man a glare. 

The woman stared at them, seeming to calculate how to respond. “You guys really need to work on your cover story, seriously. It’s awful. Do you mind if I come in?” She showed them a badge and Taka leaned forward, looking at it. 

“You got a warrant?” Mondo said, scowling at her. Of course he would know about that sort of thing. He was a former criminal, after all. 

“She’s not a police officer, Mon--uh.” Taka couldn’t help but curse himself for almost saying Mondo’s name. 

“Cut the crap, I know he’s supposed to be dead and I have an idea of what happened.” This “witchfinder” sighed, clearly growing impatient with them. “I’m a witchfinder. I deal with weird stuff like this all the time. Either you can continue to play dumb --which you’re doing a sincerely awful job of, by the way-- or you can let me come in and I can explain who I am and how everything is going to go down.” 

Taka gulped and stepped aside. “Are we in trouble? I’m going to prison, aren’t I? Just, whatever you do, please don’t hurt Mondo, he’s the victim in all of this. And please be lenient on my assistant, he just went along with everything please don’t send him to prison I’m the guilty party I’m sorry I’m a terrible person and a monster--” Mondo clapped a hand over Taka’s rambling mouth and stepped aside. 

“Taka ain’t going to prison. I don’t care what happened. You can come in if you want, but I sure as shit won’t let that happen.” Taka’s heart fluttered at Mondo’s words. He really...he would protect him like that. 

The witchfinder nodded. “I understand. And he managed to cover his tracks very well, so no, I won’t be turning him in. I don’t work for the cops. I work for a much older and different organization. You’re not the first person to raise the dead, doctor. I’ve just never seen it done by a normal human before. So I can tell you what to expect in terms of Mondo’s symptoms and what you’ll need to do to remain in my organization’s good graces, which isn’t much. I just need to set up records for both of you, and then we can move on to helping Mondo reestablish himself in society with a new life.” 

“Hold on a sec.” Mondo held up a hand. “Taka ain’t normal, alright? He’s a fucken genius--”

Taka made a warbled sound of protest from his still trapped mouth. 

“Shush. You’re smart as fuck, got it? And I’m not going anywhere, okay? I like livin’ with Taka, even if he is a pain in the ass.” Taka was both touched at Mondo’s loyalty and annoyed at his insult.

“I didn’t say he wasn’t intelligent, I’m just saying he’s not a witch or anything like that. And that’s fine, I was just going to set you up with a fake ID and papers.” The witchfinder stepped inside. “Is there somewhere we can sit and chat?” 

Taka had finally managed to pry Mondo’s hand off his mouth and nodded. “Yes, we can go over everything in the sitting room on the first floor. Mondo, would you mind making us some tea?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This took me awhile but it's longer than usual and Mondo and Taka smooch at the end so that makes up for it I guess? Also you can probably guess who the alien is that Kirigiri mentions lmao.

As Taka led Miss Kirigiri to the sitting room he couldn’t help but let his curiosity get the better of him. “So...witches exist?” 

Miss Kirigiri nodded. “They do.” She said, and then proceeded to not elaborate on that fact. Taka supposed that if someone was working as an agent for an old and secretive organization mysteriousness and discretion were important. That didn’t make his irritation over it any better. 

“So...what else exists?”

She looked at him. “Well, a lot more than people think. But there are always new species being discovered, since most of them have been conditioned to hide it makes it harder than we’d like. Not to mention how questionable human folklore is to begin with, there are so many contradictions and cultural overlaps that it can be hard to discern what nonhumans exist and what is only a myth or legend.”

Taka sat on the couch and hummed. “I see...could you give me a few examples of what’s out there? Perhaps the most common creatures of folklore?” 

Kirigiri nodded. “That’s a much easier question to answer. It really depends on the area and its demographics. Since we’re near a more urban environment werewolves and other nature-dependent types are less common, but they’re still around. Vampires are pretty common, and negotiating hunting grounds is an exhausting endeavor. There’s a witch coven in the city, along with a few independent witch clans. We also just got an alien that we’re trying to deal with. An actual extraterrestrial, not an illegal immigrant I mean. Well, I suppose in this case he’s technically both.” She chuckled a bit. 

“Wow, that’s...a lot to process. Especially the alien part. The fact that intelligent life exists outside of Earth…”

“Bold of you to call him intelligent, and he’s technically a parasitic species that latched on to a human. But that doesn’t mean he’s smart. At all. In fact half of the issue with him is getting him out of trouble because of how impulsive and gullible he is.” She sighed. “But that’s besides the point.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a folder. “We can start going over the paperwork once your boyfriend comes back in.” 

Taka made a protesting noise in the back of his throat. “He is NOT my boyfriend!”

Kirigiri nodded. “Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that. You two totally don’t have the domestic thing going on and you totally don’t seem to be into each other. Yep. Obviously one hundred percent platonic.”

“It is platonic! I’ve only really known him for a week!”

“Yeah, I’d give it a month and you guys will be officially dating.”

“Isn’t it presumptuous of you to think that we’d get together in the first place? You’re just assuming that I’m gay!” And it was at that moment Mondo made his entrance with the tea and Taka wished he had been obsessed with becoming invisible rather than resurrecting the dead. He felt his face go bright red as Mondo put down the small tray of mugs and went to sit next to him. Why, why did he have to sit next to Taka? There were other chairs! He was only proving Kirigiri’s point!

“I’m not assuming you’re gay, you don’t have to be gay. You could be bi, or pan. You could even be asexual or something, I don’t know. I don’t actually care. I was just noting the obvious.” This witchfinder was beginning to really get on his nerves. 

Mondo smirked. “She’s not wrong, I mean, I’m bi.” 

Kirigiri nodded. “Good for you, thanks for proving my point. Now start filling out this paperwork.” Taka shot Mondo a look as she pushed the papers forward with a pen towards him. Traitor.

The doctor couldn’t help but wonder if Mondo would be able to write okay after being resurrected and worried about it. He was still uncertain if there was any brain damage from either the accident or decomposition. But luckily those fears were unnecessary, because Mondo seemed to be writing just fine. 

Which reminded Taka… “So you’ve seen people get resurrected before?” 

The witchfinder looked over at him. “Yes, but it wasn’t as…” Her hand went to her chin in thought. “How do I say this...functional or actually human. Most witches just make little more than zombies, or if it is a person who can think and function like a human being they’re in a worse state of decay. It’s not pretty, I assure you.”

“You don’t have to assure me, I believe you.” Taka noticed how Mondo paused in his filling out of paperwork, he was probably just as curious about this conversation as Taka was. And he didn’t blame the larger man, since it was his body that was in question.

Kirigiri made a small “hmf” sound that may have been a snort. “Right, well, all I can really tell you is that most newly resurrected have higher strength and endurance than a normal human, but that’s about it, considering I’ve never seen a resurrected person in such a good condition before now. Mr. Oowada appears to be in good shape, to the point where he could probably go out in public if he wanted to, provided he didn’t show off the scars and tried to stay out of this area.”

Mondo grinned. “Sweet, I been feelin’ a bit cooped up in here the past few days.”

“However, once you and Mr. Oowada are registered in our system, Dr. Ishimaru, you’ll be considered a class S case. Which means that if you put one toe out of line, you and your boyfriend will be eliminated. I hate to say that kind of thing, but this kind of power is just a little too intense to be allowed to remain unchecked.” Kirigiri looked Taka dead in the eyes. “Bringing back the dead is already an offense that usually results in prison time, but due to the ignorance and nature of this case I’ll just be keeping an eye on you guys for now.”

The doctor’s blood ran cold at the serious and formidable look in the witchfinder’s eyes, to the point where he couldn’t even deny the boyfriend part, he was that freaked out. Before he could even speak he saw Mondo break the pen he was holding in half and glare up at the witchfinder. “Don’t ever fucking threaten him like that again, you got it? Nobody is gonna hurt him. I’m not gonna let another person I care about die cuz of me.” 

“And hopefully it will never get to that point. I’m just telling you how things are done. Unfortunately we can’t afford to be as lenient with our cases as the human legal justice system is, as crazy as that sounds.” 

Mondo growled and balled his fists. “So what, you just kill anyone that breaks the rules a lil?”

Kirigiri was unshaken by the larger man’s rising volume and aggressive attitude. “That’s not what I said at all. Certain cases require a more harsh form of justice. Do you think a vampire would take something like prison time seriously? Do you think it’s really wise to let this sort of thing go uncontrolled? How do you think people would react to the idea of being able to bring back the dead, and not in any half-assed kind of way, but actually bring them back? If either of you reveal any of this to the public, it could mean a lot of damage and chaos.” 

Before Mondo could further protest, Taka put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s right, we’ll be fine. I’m more than willing to follow any regulations you have.” He tried to give Mondo a look that communicated his desire to not have this end violently. Luckily for him Mondo seemed to understand and backed down, albeit with some angry grumbling. 

Kirigiri gave a tiny smirk. “Oh yeah, totally platonic.” 

“Oh will you SHUSH!” Taka hissed. 

The witchfinder made another “hmf” snort. “I also wanted to offer you a position in our organization. I’ve seen your research, and looking at Mondo you’re reputation isn’t wrong. Having you on as a doctor would be incredibly helpful, since more often than not a mission can end in injury. And you would also get the opportunity for medical research as well, since any medical knowledge regarding what we work with is always useful.”

Taka narrowed his eyes. “You mean you want a better way to monitor me?”

Kirigiri shrugged. “Call it what you will, the offer still stands. Just know that spending all this time together right now is nice, but you might get cabin fever soon enough. Having a job outside of your home might be a nice change of pace.” 

It had been a long time since Taka had done anything other than research, that was true. But did he really want to work in that kind of job? It sounded...risky, but at the same time exciting. The chance to research and learn about creatures of folklore sounded like something from a dream or movie, but it was intriguing nonetheless. That desire for knowledge was, once again, getting the better of the doctor. “I’ll...I’ll consider it.” He saw the look of disgust and surprise he received from Mondo in the corner of his eye but ignored it. 

“Good, once you and Mr. Oowada finish with his paperwork I’ll leave.” Kirigiri nodded and handed him her business card, which Taka gingerly took. 

What the hell was Taka’s problem?!? How could he have just rolled over like that after being THREATENED? Just the memory of the witchfinder’s threat made Mondo want to punch something, and yet here Taka was, walking the chick to the door like nothing had happened. He almost regretted agreeing to fill out that paperwork, but he hadn’t really had a choice in the matter. If he wanted to keep Taka safe, it looked like he would need to jump through a couple of hoops to do it. But that didn’t make it any less aggravating. Taka was so damn ready to submit to authority, and it seemed so foreign to Mondo, who had grown up with a ‘fuck the police’ sort of delinquent mentality. 

As Taka shut the front door Mondo couldn’t help but think that Taka wouldn’t be dealing with any of this bullshit if it weren’t for Mondo being alive again. And maybe it wasn’t entirely his fault, since Taka was responsible for bringing him back, but...Mondo still felt guilty. He always felt guilty, guilt was pretty much one of the two moods Mondo had. Angry and guilty. But that wasn’t important right now. “You really just let her threaten you like that? You’re really just gonna roll over and take that shit?” 

“Oh, because the other option of defying this organization and getting shot is such a better outcome.” Taka scowled at him. 

Mondo growled. “You know what I fuckin’ mean. And are you seriously considering that job? Are you insane?” 

Taka narrowed his eyes and stared up at Mondo. “Do you really want me to answer that question?” He rolled his eyes. “Relax, okay? I’ll be fine. This job could help me with figuring out what’s going on with you. It seems Miss Kirigiri could only tell us what we already found out ourselves.” He sighed. 

Mondo wanted to yell more about that, but the damn doctor had a point. The more they knew about this, the easier things would be. But that wasn’t the only thing that was bugging him. “Why are you so against the idea of us dating? I would get it if you were straight, but I really don’t know if you are or not. I’m tired of not knowin’ where we stand.” 

Taka’s face went bright red. “Wh-how’s that relevant?” 

“Just answer the damn question!” Mondo yelled. 

Fucking stubborn bastard, instead of answering the question, he turned to leave the foyer. “We should check on dinner.”

“STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT AND ANSWER ME GODDAMMIT!” Oh boy, that was much louder than he’d meant it to be. 

“WELL MAYBE I DON’T WANT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION AND I DON’T KNOW HOW TO ANSWER IT!” Of course Taka was matching his volume. This was how their fights always went. 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, you don’t know? Do you like me in that way or not?” God, Taka was so hard to communicate with sometimes. Maybe it was just due to the fact that Taka was a genius (as much as he denied it) and Mondo was below average, at least when it came to traditional education. Either way, it would go smoother if Mondo attempted to control their volumes by consciously lowering his own.

Taka finally stopped, shoulders slumping a bit. “I...I don’t know, alright? I’ve never...had this sort of experience before. I was always too busy with schoolwork, and then my job... It’s all so confusing and frightening, and we’ve only known each other for a week. What if you get sick of me? A lot of people find me annoying or boring. And...and we haven’t even gone on a date yet so this is all so improper!” His voice was shaking a little the entire time he spoke, and it made Mondo’s heart squeeze.

Mondo sighed and hugged him from behind, gambling on whether or not Taka would be okay with physical touch. “I would think you’d get sick of me first. And you’re not annoying, alright? Nobody’s ever given you much of a chance before, that’s all. But that’s total bullshit, that people think you’re boring. You’re super smart, and getting to know you has been really exciting for me. Chihiro is your friend, I know you pay him but you guys are friends, from what I see. And why the hell do we gotta go on dates, we’re already livin’ together!” It was surprising to think that Taka had never felt this way for anyone before. He’d...he’d gotten laid before, right? He wasn’t twenty-eight and still a virgin. No way. 

Lucky for him, Taka leaned into the hug, hands awkwardly going up to hold Mondo’s forearms, as if unsure what to do with his hands but at the same time feeling obligated to reciprocate the affection in some way. Unluckily for Mondo, though, was the fact that he could hear the little dork sniffling. Oh god. He’s crying. He does it a lot, sure, but he’s crying because of what Mondo said! Fuck! “Mondo...I...even if you try to pretend you’re all tough, you’re kind and caring and I, I feel lucky that it was you I brought back and not someone else. But we can’t be dating if we don’t go on dates. That defeats the entire purpose of the term.” He said this all while sniffling and crying onto Mondo’s arms.

Mondo couldn’t help but sigh and lean his forehead on Taka’s shoulder. He wasn’t really sure how to handle the compliment Taka gave, whether or not to feel insulted that Taka was insinuating his toughness was an act. But, for once he decided to swallow his pride and let it go. Especially since the little fucker was being so damn stubborn and dense. “Jesus fucking Christ Taka that’s not all dating means.”

“Then you need to better define dating for me. I need more a more clean-cut and outlined definition of this term, Mondo. If I’m to make a decision as to the nature of our relationship I would like to be informed.” Taka turned his head back to scowl at the ex-biker. This...this guy. What the actual fuck was wrong with him?!? Had he never socialized with people before?!? Social shit like that couldn’t be clear-cut or fit a textbook definition, especially with their relationship so far. Even if they were so different, it was...the right kind of different. It worked. They were both pushy, loud and blunt, making it easy to argue without being afraid of hurt feelings. Mondo had never really met someone who could yell back at him without any fear before Taka, and part of the ex-biker found that exciting. 

But despite all of that, sometimes Mondo felt so damn frustrated by the little dork. And right now this was becoming so exhausting, Mondo was going to throw this nerd out the nearest window soon if he didn’t walk away. He let Taka go and walked past him. “I’m gonna go finish makin’ dinner.” 

He heard a choking sound of protest from the doctor behind him. “Wh-- you didn’t tell me what your in-depth and outlined definition of dating was!” 

Mondo kept walking to the kitchen, giving up on his umpteenth attempt to woo the doctor. He felt Taka grab at his shoulder to stop him and Mondo finally decided to take action. Literally. He turned around and grabbed Taka by the waist, hoisting him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carrying him back to the sitting room (all the while the doctor yelled and kicked and protested, of course). He set the doctor down on the couch and pointed at him. “Stay put.” 

“Now hang on just a minute!” Taka tried to stand and was stopped and returned to the couch ungracefully with a push on his shoulder by Mondo.

“What fuckin’ part of stay put do you not understand?” Mondo growled, then sighed and held the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, it’s just. I’m tired, it’s been a long-ass day and that shit with the witchfinder was stressful and, and I just wanna make you dinner and relax. Okay? Look.” He grabbed the TV remote (from the hard won TV Mondo had persuaded the doctor into purchasing) and handed it to Taka. “Here. Put on Netflix or somethin’ and find a movie you like. When the food is done we can watch it together. That’s a date, right? It’s a stay-at-home date. People who’ve been together a while have dates like that. It doesn’t have to be a date, but it can be.”

Taka, goddamn him for being cute, looked like he was analyzing a science thing rather than a fucking romantic relationship. “I see...so we’ve simply skipped the formalities involved in dating that would require we go on public excursions together?” 

“Sure.”

“Alright then, that makes sense I suppose. And since we have the go-ahead from Miss Kirigiri we can start going on real dates as well. And I would be okay with this being a date.” He blushed. “If you want it to be.” 

When Taka was being created Mondo was 99% sure that whatever higher power existed had accidentally put all of Taka’s intelligence into the scientific and academic realm and then completely forgot about the social realm. Mondo was certain the doctor had zero brain cells devoted to social interactions and social cues. “Yes, Taka. I want it to be a date. Now lemme make us food and you find us somethin’ to watch. It’s a team effort now, right? You can even grab some extra blankets and shit and we can snuggle after we eat.” 

“We can’t eat in the sitting room Mondo! That’s unhygienic and puts the room at risk for stai--” 

“I will tie you up and spoon feed you you lil stubborn fuck.” Mondo gave him a look that he hadn’t really used since he had been alive before as a biker gang leader and it definitely had an effect on the doctor, who cowered and meekly nodded in response. Mondo took that as a surrender and went to try and salvage their dinner.

He was on a date with Mondo. Doctor Kiyotaka Ishimaru was on a date. With another person. A real person. A large, handsome person with a bad-boy-yet-secretly-soft personality. It was certainly hard to believe, and yet here he was, grabbing a large blanket for them to share (because not sharing a blanket while snuggling simply wouldn’t be efficient). It was such an odd feeling to realize he was finally on his first date, like a cross between nauseousness and euphoria. 

When he was on his way to the sitting room he spotted Mondo leaving the kitchen. “So uh, dinner is kinda fucked. What wasn’t burned was really undercooked.” 

“Oh, I see. That’s unfortunate and wasteful, but I suppose it couldn’t be helped, considering the events of this evening.” Taka hated the idea of wasting food, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford not to and there wasn’t much they could do about it now.

Mondo heaved a sigh of relief. “Cool, thanks. You mind if I order a pizza?” 

Taka smiled a bit. “Pizza sounds suitable for a stay-at-home date. We should get vegetables on it, though. So it’s at least a little healthy.” 

“No way! I ain’t eating pizza with veggies on it! It’s meat lovers or plain, anything else and you’ll be eating a whole-ass pizza by yourself!” Mondo pouted and Taka, since he felt more comfortable with his feelings, couldn’t help but think he looked cute. 

The doctor chuckled. “We’ll get plain then.” 

Mondo smiled and kissed his forehead. “Great, I’ll call someplace local and you can pay when they get here, alright? Get the real shit instead of some fast-food chain garbage.” He went to the kitchen to find the phone number for a local pizza restaurant and Taka was fairly certain his brain had partially shut down from the unwarranted and soft affection. He could only blush bright red and blink, trying to remember what the heck he was supposed to be doing. 

The sitting room. He was taking this blanket to the sitting room. He needed to focus and stop blushing like a teenager. Would this be enough? Should he try to find a fluffier or warmer blanket? Everything had to go perfectly, after all. Did he even have a better blanket? Or maybe he was overthinking all of this…

He gave a defeated sigh and decided that he was probably overthinking this, Mondo didn’t seem to be all that picky when it came to that sort of thing. This blanket would be just fine! He was fine! Mondo liked him! At least, that’s what he seemed to say...Taka couldn’t help but frown in thought as he wrapped himself in the blanket and sat on the couch. What if Mondo was only with him because he didn’t have a choice? It wasn’t like the biker had a lot of options. He was legally dead and still had some of his stitches and staples, after all. Maybe he was only telling Taka all of this because he was lonely and desperate, and then when Mondo became independent enough he would leave…

Mondo came into the sitting room and Taka instinctively jumped, feeling like he had been caught in a suspicious act. There was a second where the larger man frowned at him in worry, but then seemed to dismiss it and smiled warmly at the doctor. That smile...it made Taka’s heart melt. And his heart melted even more when Mondo pried open the blanket and crawled in next to Taka, rewrapping it around him. “You didn’t pick out anything for us to watch, ya goof.” He kissed Taka’s cheek. 

“Do you actually like me or are you just lonely and desperate?” Taka blurted out and immediately regretted it. Why was he asking such a tense question now?! He was going to scare Mondo off at this rate! “I mean...nevermind. I’m sorry, that was a stupid question to ask.”

His stomach was in a tense knot as he waited for Mondo’s reaction. At first the ex-biker’s eyes went wide with worry, then closed as he gave an exasperated sigh and held the bridge of his nose. Oh god, he really had messed this up, hadn’t he? He had ruined a perfectly good evening with his stupid insecurities! “Taka, babe, if I didn’t want to date you we wouldn’t have had that conversation. I’m not the kinda person that flakes out like that. You’re stuck with me, goddammit.” He scowled at Taka and poked his cheek, making the doctor blush bright red. He...really liked Taka. 

And he had called him babe! Taka had never been given a nickname or petname before! This was so exciting! “Oh, that’s a relief. I apologize for asking such an awkward question, I’m just nervous about all of this I suppose. I’ve never done any of this before…”

“You’ve gotten laid right?” 

“I’ve gotten what now?” Taka wasn’t familiar with that term…

Mondo stared at him with wide eyes. “It means...y’know…” He blushed. “Doin’ it.”

Taka blinked, oblivious. “Doing what?”

Why was he being so uncharacteristically shy all of a sudden? This was curious indeed… “You’re really makin’ me say it…” Mondo sighed. “Having sex. You’ve had sex right? I mean, you’re twenty eight, that would be crazy…” He laughed nervously.

“How do you know I’m twenty eight?” Taka scowled. 

Mondo’s jaw dropped and then shut a few times before he could respond. “Oh, I uh, I kinda went through your office when I first...my first night here. Or, I guess my first night alive here.” He put up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t snoop that much! I didn’t even understand half the shit in there…”

Taka’s eyes narrowed. “What else did you get into? You didn’t go into my parents bedroom, did you?” 

“I saw it but didn’t go inside, I promise. I’m sorry for snooping.” Mondo scowled and pointed at him. “But you’re fuckin’ dodging the question.”

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business!” 

“It’s my business if we’re gonna eventually do that! I kinda wanna know how much you know and how much experience you have so everything goes okay and you don’t get hurt!” Mondo’s voice was raising out of nervousness. 

And here was where Taka’s embarrassment was exposed. Mondo’s question, while prematurely asked, was valid. Taka was logical enough to understand that. But it didn’t make this any less awkward or humiliating for him. “Nothing.”

“Huh?”

“I haven’t done anything. I didn’t have any friends growing up, I didn’t do any of the things most people my age did. I just focused on school and eventually my work. You’ve given me the most physical affection I’ve gotten since my parents died. And in terms of romantic experience, this is all a first for me.” He blushed bright red and looked down. “It’s so pathetic, I know. I’m a grown man and I’m still a virgin, I would understand if you wanted to back out of this now…”

“Shut the fuck up.” Mondo put a finger over Taka’s lips to silence him. “I didn’t mean it that way, okay? I was just worried for you, and hearing all of this is fuckin’ sad. Not to mention being your first for all of this is making me nervous as hell, it’s a big responsibility and I don’t wanna ruin this shit for you, especially since you deserve to have a great first date, first kiss, first…” He cleared his throat and blushed. “If we get to that point, that is. Don’t feel like you have to do that, if you don’t wanna. I just wanna make sure that you’re firsts for all this shit is good, especially since it’s so late.”

That wasn’t fair. This kind of questioning made Taka feel so nervous, and to reveal that his motive for this was out of concern for Taka was...sweet. “Mondo...that’s so...you’re so kind. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who was so caring and sweet before.” He sniffled (because of course he would start freaking crying at a time like this) and hugged Mondo tightly. “I’m sorry I got mad, I was just scared you wouldn’t want me since I had no experience. ‘M still mad you went through my stuff though.” He pinched Mondo’s side and earned a yelp.

“What, were you planning on pretending you had experience for all of that?” 

“I would have attempted to, yes.” 

Mondo snorted and held Taka’s cheek. “Taka, I’ve only known you for like a week, and I already know you are the shittiest actor in the universe.” He kissed Taka’s nose and Taka felt his face go bright red. “I don’t mind if you don’t got experience, I just wanna make sure that this is all good for you. Cuz you’re smart, ‘n nice, ‘n I like you a lot. It’s not fair that you haven’t gotten to have any of that shit, you deserve better.” 

“Even if I’m terrible at cooking and make you fold your laundry a certain way?” Taka smiled a bit.

Mondo heaved a sigh and laid his head back against the couch. “Yeah, even if you’re a neurotic and weird little dude.”

“I am perfectly average sized, and I’m not...okay maybe I am a bit neurotic but I’m not…” Taka blushed and looked down. “Nevermind.” 

Mondo laughed, actually laughed, and Taka felt a strange tug in his gut at that. Mondo had a nice laugh, deep and unrestrained. He kissed Taka’s temple. “You’re small to me. The pizza should be here in like, a half hour, by the way. Also you need to pick somethin’ for us to watch.” 

“I don’t know what to watch, I don’t watch television! You pick!” 

“Hm-mm, this time you pick somethin’.” Mondo put an arm around Taka and playfully tapped his shoulder. 

Taka sighed in defeat and began flipping through the different television shows. He didn’t really have much of an interest in fiction, however he knew if he put on a documentary it would only end in a chainsaw-esque snoring session from his new boyfriend (his new! Boyfriend! What a nice term to think about now!). “What about one of these...hospital shows or whatever.” 

Mondo blushed and shrugged. “We could watch that one, I haven’t had the chance to catch up on the season I missed since I died but I mean it’s not like I enjoy that dumb shit I just watch it ‘n stuff cuz I feel like it and if you wanna watch it we can.” He looked away, mumbling all of this.

“Okay…” Taka couldn’t help but stare at his boyfriend in confusion. He knew Mondo had a whole toxic masculinity complex, but he didn’t really understand why watching a TV series was considered “not manly.” It was better to leave it be, though, so he just put on the show and snuggled up to Mondo. 

But there was a small problem. Everything pertaining to actual medical science was wrong. So wrong. And Taka, the outspoken intellectual that he was, couldn’t stop himself from mumbling corrections the entire time. Apparently Mondo kept hearing this commentary while they watched, so he finally snatched the remote and paused the show, glaring at Taka. “Are you gonna keep doin’ that?” 

Taka immediately felt guilty. “I’m sorry, I just...there are so many inaccuracies.” 

“Yeah, I gathered as much from your mumblin’.”

“I would like to say I can stop, but they really bother me so I probably won’t be able to stop.” Taka sighed. 

Mondo ran a hand through his hair. “Pizza guy should be here soon. You should get the money and plates and shit ready while I pick somethin’ else.” He took Taka’s hand and kissed it. “I’m honestly not surprised about this, prolly shoulda picked somethin’ else to begin with.”

“I’m sorry. If you could find a documentary you would like we could watch that.” Taka knew Mondo would probably not want to watch any documentaries, but…

“I could find a documentary. There are some interesting ones I’ve watched before, if you haven’t seen ‘em already we can watch that.” 

Oh. So he did watch documentaries sometimes. That was a relief. Taka smiled and nodded, getting up. “Alright then, I’ll go get things ready. Do you mind having a glass of wine with the food? I know you don’t eat much but it would make it easier for me since I would like to have one.” 

Mondo wouldn’t let go of Taka’s hand as he got up. “Don’t want you to move, you’re warm and good for cuddlin’. I don’t mind having some booze, not really a wine person but I can drink it.” He kissed Taka’s cheek and after a minute of struggling Taka freed his hand from Mondo’s gentle yet firm hold.

“You’re the one that told me to get the money and plates ready!” Taka chuckled and kissed Mondo’s forehead. He was starting to catch on to this whole affection business. 

Mondo only answered with grumbling and then gave Taka a quick, chaste kiss on the mouth before letting him go. He had. He had just. Kissed Taka. On the lips. Taka had just had his first kiss. “Gotta go get shit ready before the pizza comes, right?” The sneaky bastard (yes, even if Taka didn’t like using foul language, Mondo really was a bastard sometimes) smirked at him after Taka’s brain had temporarily shut down and his face had turned bright red.

Taka glared down at him. “Yes, if I hadn’t been distracted.” He booped the smirking man’s nose and finally broke away from him, leaving the room to attend to their soon-to-arrive dinner. 

Goddamn, Taka was cute! Even if the idea of trying to make up for Taka’s lack of experience by making all of his firsts as enjoyable as possible felt like a daunting task, seeing the way the guy got so flustered was just too damn cute. He had just pecked him on the lips and the doctor’s brain had seemed to short-circuit. He’d have to work the smaller man up to the more intense stuff, he supposed. Which was fine, if anything the slow romantic pace was kind of nice for a change. It took a lot of pressure off of Mondo, anyway. But despite his macho attitude he was a naturally affectionate and touchy person, so at least Taka seemed to be handling cuddling well. 

Speaking of which, the doctor returned to the sitting room with two plates of pizza in hand, then left and came back with two wine glasses. As soon as he set those things down on the coffee table Mondo couldn’t help but pull him back into his arms, cuddling the smaller man (who made a surprised squawk and squirmed a bit). “We should finish eating first before we go back to cuddling!” Taka hissed.

“Nuh-unh, we should keep cuddlin’.” Mondo nuzzled Taka’s neck and kissed his jaw, earning a small gasp from the doctor. Mondo smirked, internally high-fiving himself for finding a sensitive spot. He began kissing Taka’s neck more purposefully, but still remaining gentle. 

“M-mondo...ah...eat first, romance a-after…” Taka whimpered a little and that sound sent a decent amount of Mondo’s blood southward. He couldn’t help but bite down a little on Taka’s neck, which made the smaller man gasp. “Y-you’re biting me!” 

Mondo pulled back and smirked. “Yeah. How do you think hickies work?” He finally let Taka go and grabbed his plate of food, taking a bite. 

Taka rubbed his neck and blushed. “I...I know how they work, it was just...I’ve never gotten one before. And it was unexpected.” He got his own plate and began eating. 

“Did ya not like it?”

The analytical look that Mondo had first thought was ridiculous was back, and it was quickly growing on him. It was cute, how Taka tried to quantify these feelings and experiences he was having. “I...I believe so. It hurt a little but it made me feel...a bit hot?” 

Mondo snorted. “Yeah, sounds about right. We can do more of that after we finish eating if ya want.” He smirked at the blushing doctor. 

Taka blinked. “Ah, I would...I think that would be nice. Yes, we could do that. Just...just go slow, alright? I’m still new to all of this.”

“Mmhmm, it’s hard when you make all those noises, though.” Mondo couldn’t help but smirk at the now blushing Taka as he took a bite of his pizza. 

Taka took a sip of his wine. “It isn’t my fault I’m a naturally vocal person!” 

Mondo hummed. “Whatever you say, baby.” As he was eating, he could see Taka’s blush darken at the pet name and he couldn’t help but let his smirk grow a bit. His satisfaction only heightened when he realized Taka was eating faster than normal, not enough to hurt himself, but noticeable enough for Mondo to note the urgency. Mondo, not having to eat as much, finished before the doctor did, and so he watched this with barely restrained amusement. 

“Let me put away the leftover pizza and then...then we can...get down to business.” Taka mumbled, pulling away from a protesting Mondo again. This time Mondo decided to be a little more aggressive and kissed him harder on the mouth than before, holding Taka’s cheek gently and nipping at his bottom lip before pulling away. 

“Just don’t take too long, babe.” Mondo smiled a bit at him, letting him go. Taka seemed to almost stumble away from him, face bright red and eyes wide. He almost left the room before turning around and grabbing the dirty plates to take them back to the kitchen. 

When Taka came back Mondo pulled him onto his lap, grinning. “You like your first kiss?”

Taka hummed. “I did. I definitely am beginning to see what all the hooplah is about this romance thing.” He nuzzled Mondo’s neck.

He just...he just said hooplah. He used the word in a sentence. Jesus fucking christ. “Yeah, I’m glad I’m doin’ a good job.” 

He felt Taka stroke his chest gently as he spoke from the crook of Mondo’s neck. “I didn’t have any doubts in you. You are quite...handsome, after all.” Taka mumbled, and his breath against Mondo’s neck made the ex-biker shiver a bit. 

Mondo laid back against the couch to make things a little more comfortable. “Thanks, I guess. You’re pretty good lookin’ yourself.” He couldn’t help but bite his lip as he felt Taka gently kiss his neck. That was...unexpected.

“I’m flattered. I’ve been told my eyebrows are too much.” Taka chuckled a bit and then nibbled at Mondo’s neck, sucking on the skin a bit. His hands were still roaming over Mondo’s chest and he felt a thumb brush over his nipple.

Mondo grunted. “Hey, where’d you learn that?”

Taka pulled back and looked up at Mondo. “Learn what?” 

Mondo narrowed his eyes. “You swear you’ve never done anything like this with anyone?” 

Taka nodded. “I swear. I haven’t even held hands with another person romantically before now.” Mondo couldn’t help but widen his eyes as he saw a devious smirk grace those usually innocent features. “You said nothing about me watching or reading porn, though.” 

“I’ll be damned.” Mondo mumbled to himself. “And here I thought you were some innocent little virgin.”

“I’m still a virgin, but I never said I didn’t know how any of this worked. Just that I haven’t experienced it firsthand. Though I will admit that I’m rather secretive about it, considering the circumstances.” He laughed nervously.

Mondo scowled at him. “How come you were pretending like you didn’t know anything earlier then?”

Taka pouted. “I didn’t want to say anything because admitting I watch porn is embarrassing and just because I know the mechanics of all of this doesn’t mean I can do it!” His voice was louder than before, probably due to nerves. 

“Yeah? Well what you did coulda fuckin’ fooled me!” Mondo frowned and rubbed his neck. “It’s not that dark, is it?”

There was a long pause as Taka stared at him. “It’s...already pretty red, actually. It will probably be pretty dark by tomorrow.” 

“You secretly horny little fucker.” Mondo pouted and looked down. “I guess I shoulda figured you’d be a fast learner, cuz you’re so smart.” 

“I’m not sure whether to be flattered or embarrassed by what you’ve just said.” The doctor answered with a blush.

“Just shut the hell up and make out with me you goddamn pervert!” Mondo pulled him in for a deep kiss and Taka made a protesting warble, but otherwise submitted to the kiss. 

The fact that Taka had taken him off guard and thus taken temporary control of the situation had poked at those insecurities Mondo had. He was supposed to be a big tough man, so he had to be in control, he needed to be the dominant one. If he could just regain control of the situation, then things could go smoothly. 

He grunted as Taka nipped his bottom lip and then awkwardly slipped his tongue into Mondo’s mouth. Mondo tried to fight back his tongue, if he let Taka control this then he’d be fucked, but that only resulted in them twisting their tongues together more than either had planned. Which meant more stimulation and thus they ended up moaning practically in unison, Mondo’s arms moving up to wrap around Taka’s back while Taka’s hands rubbed Mondo’s chest again. 

Taka pulled back, flushed and panting. “Was that okay? You pushed me away like that, was something wrong?” 

Mondo blushed hard, feeling caught in the act. “I can’t be the one submitting like that. I’m...I’m the bigger one, so I gotta be the top, right?” He frowned. “I’m supposed to be the strong one.” 

Taka sighed and held the bridge of his nose. “No, Mondo, that’s not true at all. You don’t have to be strong or dominate with me, okay? None of that is important. It’s like you said, you want to do what makes me feel good, right? Well I want you to feel good too. If you’re really uncomfortable, I’ll understand, but don’t try to dominate and take control of things because you feel like you have to, okay?” He held Mondo’s cheeks and frowned. 

Mondo sighed heavily. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s just that old habits die hard, y’know? And you caught me off guard. You been actin’ bashful this whole time and now you’re suddenly all confident.”

“I feel more comfortable with the situation now, yes. But I really was flustered by your advances.” Taka smiled a bit. “I’ve never had anyone use petnames on me before, I like when you call me babe and baby. It’s...nice. I suppose I just have a tendency to...well...you know how there are people at the pool who have to get in slowly and there are those who just jump in, damn the consequences?” 

“Uhh, you’re losin’ me on this one, but yeah?”

“I’m the ‘just jump in’ sort of person. It seems weird, I know, but...I’m not fragile, I want to go slow but that isn’t what I do naturally. I just don’t want to pressure you or scare you off. Plus I really don’t know what I’m doing, and we’re still getting to know each other.” 

Mondo sighed. As much as he wanted to further question the doctor, he could understand what he meant. Taka, despite his intelligence, let his passion get the better of him sometimes. Mondo wouldn’t have been resurrected if that wasn’t the case, after all. “I was just caught off guard, and it made me feel insecure for a minute.” 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that, I just got excited and I wanted this to go well, since you probably have more experience than I do!”

“You shouldn’t feel pressured to do things before you’re comfortable, though.”

“I am comfortable, I quite enjoyed what we just did and I would like to do more, but not if you’re uncomfortable.” Taka stroked his hair and smiled. “You don’t need to do all the work, we can both care for each other.” Aw, that was...kinda sweet. Fuck this guy for being so sweet after having his tongue in Mondo’s mouth. 

Mondo finally gave in and kissed Taka’s cheek. “Fine, I’ll try to relax and let you do more stuff. It’s not...bad, I just...feel insecure I guess. You were a lil awkward, but that’s to be expected.” He smiled a bit. “How about we call it a night, okay? It’s getting pretty late.”

Taka seemed to be almost disappointed for a moment, but then finally gave in and nodded. “Alright, but I’ll only do things if you’re comfortable with it.” He crawled off of Mondo, then kissed his cheek and left Mondo alone to get ready for bed.


End file.
